Tuesday, 10 June 2014

You know how everyone seems to have their go to songs? The song Oceans by Hillsong Untied for sure makes my short list of go to songs. No matter where I am in life this song always seems to resonate with me strongly. I love how the song challenges you but comforts you at the same time. In the second verse one of my favourite lines is "you've never failed and you won't start now." I think that this idea challenges any feelings of doubt you have with God but at the same time is a reminder of His faithfulness. It is blunt, it is straight forward, but it is so true. Moving into the chorus it goes into talking about calling upon God in your times of greatest distress and really makes you think about how that situation relates to you life. Moving into the bridge the entire volume comes down into just the piano which right away causes you to ponder through the lyrics. The bridge of this song is so incredibly challenging, but again so comforting in the same way. "Spirit lead me where my trust is without boarders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my saviour." The bridge repeats about nine times and builds again into a full instrumental which again is brought down back to the piano into the chorus. This song is so beautiful, and true, and I will always love this song which Hillsong has given us.

Everything starts with something, and something starts with you. As an 18 year old pondering through my desires and goals for this God given life it's mind blowing to think about what I could do when the sky is the limit. My name is Micayla McNaughtan and ahead you will experience a small glimpse into the hopes and desires I have for this life. Over the past week I've been sifting through, and stressing about filling this bucket list of my greatest desires. Right now as a student anxiously waiting to graduate, but yet feeling burdened about what life will bring next it's hard to fathom what the decades ahead of me will look like. Will I travel? Will I go back to school? Will I get married? Will I start a family? Right now I've only experienced a few puzzle pieces in this life and God only knows what the whole picture will bring. I came to the realization that I don't need to fill this list right now because just as I will change in the future so will this list. One day this list may also belong to my husband, or children, and the adventures we achieve together will be equally as amazing as the ones up head. Right now, this list belongs to Micayla, the 18 year old who longs to help others, who will stop at nothing to shine the light of Jesus, and who loves to be crazy, random, and carefree all in her perfectly unique way. This collection of goals ranges from something a simple as planting a tree, to items that I can only imagine in my craziest dreams like raising $10 000 to build a school. No matter how I or this list change in the future I know that I will be doing two things for the rest of my life, loving God, and loving people. Whatever the waves of life churn at me next, I will still always be Micayla.

Monday, 9 June 2014

Have you ever felt like sometimes it's easier to blend into the crowd rather than stand up for the person you want to be? I know I've felt that way, but as time goes on you realize what is more valuable, fitting in or being the person you strive to be. Ever since I was a little kid I was always the different one, that person in every class that marched to the beat of their own drum despite what the norm was. I didn't dress like your everyday girl, and I didn't like the things that others liked. In elementary school it was fun to be the unique outgoing one that everyone liked but middle school became a rude awakening that being different wasn't always welcome. Middle school was all about having the best hair, the cutest boyfriend, the nicest clothes, and suddenly any glimpse of uniqueness you had for traded for the ever so valuable popularity points. In an environment that preys on your differences it was nearly impossible to be my own person without feeling out of place. As the three years of middle slowly creeped by I was again surprised by the new experience known as high school. High school was completely different than I ever expected, suddenly you feel like a small fish in a rather large ocean. I wanted to be bold, and I wanted to be me but I didn't know where to start. In grade 9 I signed up for the human rights and holocaust studies program because I knew that human rights was something I genuinely cared about. The trip itself changed my life and I was encourage to step outside the box and be my own person. I decided to take a giant leap out of the box by recording my own cd to sell for human trafficking relief funds in Calcutta India. When I told my friends, family, teachers, and church members about my plan they all looked at me as this concept was unheard of for a 15 year old. Scared, and excited i began the selling process with no shame in asking people to donate money to the girls in Calcutta. Boldness came to me in the time I needed it most, and it was influenced strongly by something I cared about. I ended up raising over $1200 for girls overseas and without taking a bold step of faith I would've made no impact on the sex trade overseas. Be bold because you can. Don't allow your age to influence the choices you make. Don't let anyone tell you what you can and can't do, be bold because you can.

Thursday, 5 June 2014

So yesterday I picked up my new pair of glasses. It's been a few years since I've got new glasses, I would be completely lying if I said I wasn't excited to change it up a little bit. Ever since I was in grade 3 I've worn glasses, and now I can't express how grateful I am to live on a country where I can get glasses if I need them to see. I remember back in third grade being called down for a vision test (which by the way I completely flunked) and having to meet with my mother to break the news that I needed glasses. As an 8 year old kid this was devestating news and I bawled my eyes out in that teachers office as if someone told me I only had two weeks to live. The "crisis" of getting glasses was soon settled as I found my first pair of blue metal frames in which I wore for the rest of my elementary school experience. Those poor glasses though, I mangled them, broke them, smashed them, and taped them numerous times due to my careless recess behaviour. In middle school I decided I wanted to grow out of my first pair of metal frames and I chose some "grown up" middle school appropriate glasses. As a middle schooler trying to fit in I have to admit glasses weren't the coolest option, but I knew more than anyone else that if I didn't wear them I couldn't see anything. High school came and by now I had a collection of old frames that I had been through. Glasses started to become the in thing as I got into the higher grades, and I would try to match my glasses to my look of the day in order to stay up with the trends. After I grew out of a certain pair of glasses I would usually retire them to their case and throw them in a junk box. Yesterday as I yet again retired some more glasses that may never touch my face again I decided to look into some ways that someone less fortunate than me could make good use of my old glasses. Here in Winnipeg as well as all over Canada you can donate your glasses to be sent to kids and adults overseas that may never be able to afford their own pair of glasses. So think back to all those old glasses you have grown out of, and think about how much use they are getting sitting in a box at home. Wouldn't be amazing if you could give someone the gift of sight by donating your old glasses? For me glasses are one of the biggest blessings in my life with them I can see the world around me clear as a bell, without them I am basically useless as the world is literally a huge blur. Think about it, one simple action of giving away something that you don't even use anymore could change the life of someone overseas, just like glasses changed my life.

As many of you may know, I love music. I love writing music, playing music, and appreciating other artists music. I thought it would be good to appreciate some of my favourite songs, and express the reasons why I like them. I could spend hours sometimes just playing others music, but then in turn making their words my words, it's truly a unique experience. I will start with a relatively new song called "You Make Me Brave." I absolutely love this song. This song was written in conjunction with Bethel Music but was actually written by a Manitoba native Amanada Cook. I love when artists compare God's love, grace, and character to those of an ocean. It's such a great picture and visual for understanding the magnitude of God. In the chorus of this song it says "as Your love in wave after wave, crashes over me, crashes over me." I think that is such an amazing picture of love, like a wave with so much power and force comes at you so does God's love. Moving into the bridge it repeats "you make me brave, you make me brave, you called me out beyond the storm into the waves. You make me brave, you make me brave, no fear can hinder now the promises you made." This is such a simple yet powerful statement, which I really appreciate in the bridge of a song. Sometimes just keeping your message short and sincere is more impactful to your listener then trying to expresses your emotions in many words. Overall I absolutely love Bethel Music, especially their new song "You Make Me Brave."

Tuesday, 3 June 2014

I find that as a young person I spend a lot of time stressing over things that are in my future, or things that haven't even happened yet. This year especially I feel like I'm swarmed by adults pestering me about what I am going to do next year, or what I see for my life ahead. First off I'm only 18 I have just barely got into this life and now I have to make the choice of what I want the rest of it to look like. Sometimes instead of dwelling on what I don't know it's easier to be still and confident in what I do know. I know that I love Jesus, I know that I long to help people, and I know that my future will consist of those two things. I don't know how that will happen, or when it will happen but I know those two things are apart of who I am. This whole pressure of having to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life has really pushed me towards taking a year off and just spending time doing what I love, and being with God. Next year I plan on attending a bible college in Las Vegas with a strong focus on growing closer to God, and learning about the sex trade in Vegas as well as overseas. I will be traveling with this group overseas to work more hands on in terms of this issue, and I couldn't be more excited to do so. No I will not get university credit for it, no I will not be working towards a career, but I will be doing something I love because I want to, and because I can. Let things come as they are, let life happen, and let things out of your control. Some of the best experiences in my life weren't planned, and even if they were half the fun is being spontaneous. Abour a year ago I got a call telling me I won a scholarship to volunteer overseas in the summer, never once did I think that something like that could happen. It's was scary, it's wasn't planned, and it was the greatest unknown I have ever experienced. Do what you love, and stick to what you know. Don't feel pressured to make choices right now, and don't act because you have to, you have your whole life ahead of you.